Egg freezing the new buzzword among city's career-oriented women

Egg freezing or cryopreservation of eggs produced by the ovary is becoming popular as more working women in Bengaluru move towards a career-oriented life.

According to doctors specialising in IVF (in vitro fertilisation), women approach them for their eggs to be preserved due to various reasons.

“Women having cancer or any other chronic disease usually come to preserve their eggs as they cannot conceive while they are under treatment. Radiation, chemotherapy and certain other treatments may damage the egg,” said Dr Bina Vasan, chief of reproductive medicine, Manipal Hospitals.

She added that there was also the concept of social freezing of egg. Women’s eggs age faster than their age. “Women are now career-oriented and some may take time to find a partner. In such cases, they usually preserve the egg by freezing and use it later when they want to conceive,” Dr Bina said.

Dr Pallavi Prasad, a fertility consultant at Nova IVI Fertility Clinic, conducted cryopreservation of eggs for at least three women last month. She said many women were getting aware of cryopreservation now though it had been in existence for at least five to six years.

“Women should only retrieve eggs when they are young. It is strongly advised not to preserve eggs after 38 years of age and a late conception is dangerous to both the mother and the child,” she said.

According to doctors, the ideal time to retrieve eggs is when the woman is young, around the age of 35 years or before. Once extracted, the egg can be stored for five to 10 years. Once the woman is ready for pregnancy, the egg is defrozen and fused with the sperm of the partner and the embryo that is formed after it is induced back into the woman’s womb, initiating a pregnancy.

“Technically, eggs can be preserved for eternity, but so far we have only come across a preservation of up to five or ten years,” said Dr Manisha Singh, a consultant gynaecologist and IVF specialist at Fortis Hospital.

She added that it was always better to plan one’s life for a conception instead of prolonging it artificially.